Kendrick Perkins has interest from several NBA teams for a post-trade deadline contract to play the remainder of the season. He could explore China and Japan next year depending on the remainder of his 2017-18.

One notable player was missing from the equation: Ray Allen. The sharpshooter, who was a member of the original Boston “Big Three” along with KG and Pierce, left the Celtics to team up with LeBron James and the Miami Heat in July of 2012, effectively ending that era.

The group shared their thoughts on Allen and his departure during the segment.

One notable player was missing from the reunion: Ray Allen. The sharpshooter, who was a member of the original “Big Three” along with KG and Pierce, left the Celtics to team up with LeBron James and the Miami Heat in July of 2012, effectively ending that era.

New Orleans Pelicans backup center Kendrick Perkins claims that former teammate and soon-to-be free agent Kevin Durant told him which teams he will consider signing with this summer. Perk claims that KD made him sign on the dotted line that he wouldn’t tell a soul which franchises are on the list. All the OKC Thunder […]

Perk claims that KD made him sign on the dotted line that he wouldn’t tell a soul which franchises are on the list.

All the OKC Thunder have to do to retain their superstar forward, according to the big fella, is simply win the 2016 NBA championship.

Per ESPN:

Told that the Celtics likely will pursue Durant, Perkins replied, “Boston and everybody else, right?” Later he added, “As a friend, I try not to talk to him too much about free agency. I always try to just want to talk to him about things outside of basketball. We talk about personal life and stuff like that. And I know he’s getting this question every day on the hour and stuff like that, so I try not to bother him. […] But he did shoot some teams out there that he made me sign a confidentiality form that I couldn’t tell nobody. He’s got a few teams that he will be looking at.”

Perkins was asked if he’d be surprised if Durant considered Boston. […] “You’re trying to get me to really answer the question,” Perkins said. “I can’t answer that. I want to, but I can’t. I mean, I don’t know. I do know, but I don’t know.”

Perkins stressed that Oklahoma City’s playoff performance this year likely will dictate Durant’s decision. […] “[The Thunder] win it all, he can’t leave, in my opinion,” Perkins said. “But if they don’t, it might be time for a change.”

https://vine.co/v/ide9BEQ2dE9 Kendrick Perkins has been buried on New Orleans’ depth chart for much of the 2015-16 season, and cheap shots like these won’t earn him additional minutes. Perkins received an immediate ejection with the flagrant-2 call, and will likely face a suspension and fine.

Kendrick Perkins has been buried on New Orleans’ depth chart for much of the 2015-16 season, and cheap shots like these won’t earn him additional minutes. Perkins received an immediate ejection with the flagrant-2 call, and will likely face a suspension and fine.

Reporters peppered LeBron James with questions Thursday about his recent trip to Miami, where he worked out with former Heat teammate Dwyane Wade, but LBJ was in no mood to entertain them: “Cause I want to,” was all King James would offer as an explanation. Can't replace being around great friends that reciprocate the same […]

Reporters peppered LeBron James with questions Thursday about his recent trip to Miami, where he worked out with former Heat teammate Dwyane Wade, but LBJ was in no mood to entertain them: “Cause I want to,” was all King James would offer as an explanation.

Can't replace being around great friends that reciprocate the same energy back to you in all facets of life

“I’ve won championships with one, I’ve lost championships without one,” James said after practice on Thursday. That’s a telling response. James mentioned Udonis Haslem and Chris “Birdman” Anderson as the two enforcers who helped him win it all twice in Miami.

Last year the Cavaliers picked up big man Kendrick Perkins in February. Although he’s not the defensive stalwart he once was, he’s still very much a physical, intimidating presence who commands a locker room’s respect. […] “As far as an enforcer, we don’t possess that this year,” James said. “Losing Perk was a big piece of our success last year, even with his limited minutes. But what he meant to our team both in the locker room and when he got his opportunity was huge.”

“[An enforcer], it’s vital. It’s vital. Having an enforcer like that, [someone] that has championship experience,” (Kyrie) Irving said. “I don’t think we just necessarily want an enforcer, but enforcers are always on championship teams. They have that one guy that we put into the game. That Boston series, it changed drastically just because of Perk going in.” […] That play Irving is referring to was Game 4 of the first-round series against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden. Cleveland was up 3-0. Kevin Love’s left shoulder had already been dislocated in a rebound skirmish with Kelly Olynyk. Boston knew it couldn’t beat Cleveland, so the Celtics tried to beat them up.

Kendrick Perkins is dealing with a right pectoral injury and reportedly could miss three months. Perkins had been playing a surprisingly big role with New Orleans, who have endured injury upon injury to start the season. The snake-bitten Pelicans are still looking for their first win this season. More from Yahoo: New Orleans Pelicans center Kendrick Perkins […]

Perkins had been playing a surprisingly big role with New Orleans, who have endured injury upon injury to start the season.

The snake-bitten Pelicans are still looking for their first win this season.

More from Yahoo:

New Orleans Pelicans center Kendrick Perkins is expected to miss three months rehabilitating a right pectoral injury, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

New Orleans didn’t expect Perkins, 30, to play a major role on the floor this season, but an injury to starting center Omer Asik made it necessary to move Perkins into the starting lineup. His presence had been considered important to the Pelicans’ coaching staff, which considered him a needed veteran voice in the locker room.

Free agent center Kendrick Perkins is taking his, um, scowl to New Orleans. The Pelicans have reportedly come to terms with Perkins on a one-year deal at the veteran’s minimum of just over $1 million. #Pelicans agree to terms with C Kendrick Perkins to per sources — Scott Kushner (@ScottDKushner) July 21, 2015 #Pelicans add […]

Seldom-used center Kendrick Perkins has reached an agreement with the New Orleans Pelicans on a one-year deal worth the veteran’s minimum.

The Cavaliers acquired Perkins in February after he was bought out of his contract with the Utah Jazz. The plan at that time was to use him in a backup role to Timofey Mozgov and to add some toughness in the interior.

However, he was never able to gain the trust of Head Coach David Blatt and only appeared in 17 games. His value to the team ended up being solely in the locker room as veteran presence that has seen it all. He knew he would not be retained.

The Cavaliers hold a 2-1 lead in the 2015 NBA Finals, largely thanks to the unbelievable play of LeBron James, who finished with 40 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists, four steal and two blocks in a Game 3 victory in Cleveland.

LeBron’s epic Finals has some close to him saying that they’ve never seen him play quite like this (like Dwyane Wade, for example).

Cavs teammate Kendrick Perkins, for one, says the Warriors are in trouble now because LeBron “smells blood.”

After putting the Atlanta Hawks out of their misery Tuesday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers were crowned as the best team in the Eastern Conference, and the celebration was on. LeBron James, J.R. Smith, Kyrie Irving, Kendrick Perkins, and Iman Shumpert held an impromptu party inside a large cold tub with music blasting.

LeBron James’ historic performance in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals had the predictable effect of having people jumping to conclusions, and forcing a re-assessment of King James’ legacy. James is on the verge of leading the Cleveland Cavaliers back to the NBA Finals, and some of his teammates say that comparing him to […]

Kendrick Perkins thinks a couple of more championship rings would separate LeBron from Mike in the endless G.O.A.T. debate; J.R. Smith, meanwhile, believes Jordan and James are now basically 1)a and 1)b.

Per the NEOMG:

It took his 12th career postseason triple-double of 37 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists to place the Atlanta Hawks on the brink of embarking on an extended vacation. He became the first player in playoff history to produce a stat line of at least 37 points, 18 boards and 13 dimes.

“The only thing that he’s missing is a couple more championships and then it’s a wrap,” Kendrick Perkins said. “Right now we have arguably the best player to ever play the game. I’m just saying man. I’m not taking anything away from Jordan, but all (James is) missing is titles. A couple of more titles and that’s it.”

“That’s one hell of a debate. Honestly, in my opinion, if it’s not Jordan then it’s him,” J.R. Smith said. “It used to be no question. It was a landslide. It was Jordan. Now, you have to consider my boy.” […] “Just think about it, truthfully, if he wanted to, he could win the MVP every year,” Perkins said. “Think about that. He averaged 25 [points], 6 [rebounds] and 7 [assists]. That’s absurd, and people are like ‘he had a down year.’ That’s crazy talk. When it’s all said and done, he’ll probably be the best the game has seen.”

The police intervened Wednesday morning during a verbal altercation between Cleveland Cavaliers center Kendrick Perkins and his wife Vanity. Neither party was injured or arrested; Perkins was given a ride home while his wife drove off. The big guy, who joined Cleveland as a free agent in February, went scoreless in 90 seconds of playing […]

It’s been a rough day for the Cleveland Cavaliers. J.R. Smith had reason to be “nervous as hell“—the NBA announced Monday night that he’s been suspended for a pair of games following his brutal smack of Jae Crowder’s grill in the Cavs’ series-closing Game 4 Sunday afternoon vs the Boston Celtics. J.R. Smith has been […]

Kendrick Perkins is still being Kendrick Perkins, as he shoved the crap out of Jae Crowder in the second quarter, starting a small skirmish on the court. Check out the replays above. The Cavaliers-Celtics series could end today, if Cleveland can close out the sweep.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are expected to make the Kendrick Perkins signing official Tuesday, and Perk’s new teammates are excited about the addition. I'm on my way! @KingJames @KyrieIrving @RealTristan13 @kevinlove @MikeMiller_13 @TheRealJRSmith @I_Am_Iman! #Cavs 👊👊👊👊👊 — Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) February 21, 2015 LeBron James, who has faced Perkins in numerous Playoff wars over the years, […]

Perkins was traded by the OKC Thunder after four-and-a-half seasons late last week, and subsequently bought out by the Utah Jazz.

Per the Akron Beacon Journal:

“He brings a championship DNA, a guy who has been there and knows what it takes to win it all,” James said. “He brings toughness to our interior and a great locker room guy. All he cares about is winning. That’s very important to our chemistry and very important to what we’re building here. We’re happy to have him.”

Both James and Kevin Love said Perkins is a player guys love to have as a teammate, but dread facing. […] “You love having him on your team, you hate playing against him. He’s definitely one of those guys,” Love said. “He brings a different edge with his mentality to the team. He’s a guy who instantly fits because of that mentality.”

Both James and Perkins were part of the legendary 2003 draft class. Perkins, selected 27th overall, becomes the seventh member of that class to play with James, joining a list that includes Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade and Sasha Pavlovic along with second rounders Jason Kapono, James Jones and Mo Williams. […] “We had a great class in that draft,” James said. “We want to go down as one of the greatest NBA drafts ever. It’s pretty cool to be able to team up with guys who have been in your draft. I’ve been blessed to team up with quite a few.”

The Cavs have emerged as the frontrunners to sign Kendrick Perkins, according to a Yahoo report. Perkins and the Jazz are proceeding in a buyout that could be completed on Saturday. The Bulls, Rockets, and Hawks are reported to be in the mix for the big man as well. The Cleveland Cavaliers have emerged as […]

The Cavs have emerged as the frontrunners to sign Kendrick Perkins, according to a Yahoo report. Perkins and the Jazz are proceeding in a buyout that could be completed on Saturday. The Bulls, Rockets, and Hawks are reported to be in the mix for the big man as well.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have emerged as the strong frontrunners to sign center Kendrick Perkins, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

Perkins and the Utah Jazz are proceeding on a contract buyout that could be completed as soon as Saturday, sources said.

Perkins is leaning toward signing a deal with the Cavaliers, but has yet to make a final commitment, sources said.

A few hours before the blockbuster Reggie Jackson trade to Detroit and the acquisition of Enes Kanter, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant were clearly not pleased with Jackson’s desire to leave town. (Jackson’s hilarious elation after joining the Pistons likely didn’t aid matters either.) Russell Westbrook: "We have a chance of winning a championship and […]

And hours before general manager Sam Presti pulled the trigger, Russell Westbrook – one of the franchise’s two cornerstone – said he and Kevin Durant had no desire to be consulted on the decision.

“Not my job,” Westbrook said. “My job is to come out and play. We have a great general manager, great owner and great coach who have done a great job thus far putting this team together. So I’m pretty sure they know what’s best for us.”

When asked if Presti ever comes to them to gather their opinion, Westbrook reiterated his previous answer in the most Westbrook way possible. […] “I don’t want to repeat the same answer, so whatever I just said last time use it as that answer,” he said.

The on-again, off-again Brook Lopez trade talks are reportedly taking a break. Negotiations with the Charlotte Hornets fizzled out, and now the Brooklyn Nets are said to have broken off discussions with the OKC Thunder for the big fella. Lopez will remain in BK for the time being: Brooklyn is deciding, for now, not to […]

Former Celtics center Kendrick Perkins has remained close with Rajon Rondo over the years, and says that the star point guard no longer wanted to be a Celtic. Rondo was traded to the Dallas Mavericks, and Perkins envisions a bright future in Texas for his old floor general. Rondo was the last remaining member of […]

Rondo was the last remaining member of the 2008 NBA championship squad.

Per Yahoo! Sports:

“He wanted out, but he would never say that though,” Perkins said.

“Going to nice weather, a contender,” Perkins said. “Hopefully, he will do what he got to do in terms of his contract extension. It’s a great opportunity. I’m happy for him. I’m not happy he is in the West, but I’m happy for him. His time was probably up in Boston. He did his due. He was cool, happy. He was excited. He’s going to a contender. He’s 29 [years old] so rebuilding is out of the question now.”

“He makes them a better team,” Perkins said. “He is going to be able to pass for open shots, so he is going to be dangerous, especially with the lineup he got with him. It’s going to be pretty sick. They were already a good team. He made them a great team in my opinion.”

Thunder veteran Kendrick Perkins has been talking a lot of smack this season, aiming barbs at Marreese Speights of the Warriors, and the entire Kings team, among others. What does Sacramento forward Rudy Gay think of all Perkins’ talking? “He might as well play with his face painted, he’s a clown to me,” Gay said, in anticipation of the Thunder-Kings game this week. From Kings blogger Blake Ellington on Twitter, via CBS Sports:

Kendrick Perkins spoke negatively of the Kings early in season. Rudy Gay: "He might as well play with his face painted, he's a clown to me."

The amusing war of words between Kendrick Perkins and Marreese Speights continued Monday, as the OKC Thunder center responded to Speights trashing his game. The Golden State Warriors’ big fella was feeling himself after dropping a wholly-unexpected 28 points Sunday night against the Thunder, but Perk argues that Speights should keep his mouth shut since […]

The Golden State Warriors’ big fella was feeling himself after dropping a wholly-unexpected 28 points Sunday night against the Thunder, but Perk argues that Speights should keep his mouth shut since he’s bounced around the NBA so many times.

Per The Oklahoman and Inside the Warriors:

“I just don’t understand some guys, especially like a guy his caliber — five or six-year player in the league, you been on six different teams,” Perkins said. “You don’t really have no room to be talking about anyone.” […] “It’s his world, I’m just living in it,” Perkins joked. “That’s my response to Marreese Speights.”

“On the court it was really just Kendrick Perkins like he’s always been,” Speights told Sirius XM. “KG – (Kevin) Garnett – got him on that guys, and now he’s acting like a little tough guy.”

“It’s just getting caught up in the game,” Speights said. “Certain guys talk trash to you. And what happened last night and in my whole career, when somebody starts talking trash to me, it’s making me focus more and turns me up more. So it worked out good last night that they were trying to get in my head, but it turned out it was bad for them.”

Golden State Warriors big man Marreese Speights had a lot to say Sunday while playing against the OKC Thunder. Speights claims that OKC Thunder center Kendrick Perkins’ chirping motivated him to have a big night, in the Warriors’ 91-86 road win. Speights finished with 28 points, while Perkins only manged four points. Per the San […]

Speights finished with 28 points, while Perkins only manged four points.

Per the San Fran Chronicle:

Speights spent much of the game talking trash to the Thunder’s bench — all the while, knocking down 11-of-18 shots for a season-high 28 points. Apparently, most of Speights’ venom was directed at Oklahoma City backup center Kendrick Perkins, who had four points on 2-of-4 shooting.

“It’s just that Perk always has something to say,” Speights said. “He thinks he’s a tough guy, but at the end of the day, his game is terrible. He always has something to say to me, every time we play against each other.

“It always gets me going, so: ‘Shout out to Perkins’ for helping me get this game.”

For years now, OKC Thunder fans (and others with a rudimentary understanding of NBA basketball) have screamed at head coach Scott Brooks to glue veteran center Kendrick Perkins to the bench. Going into his 12th NBA season, and it being a contract year, Perkins admits that he’s nervous about his role and what the future […]

“To me, it really don’t even matter,” Perkins said of the impending decision. “I just want an opportunity to play, that’s it. Since I’ve been here, the only thing I’ve been trying to embrace on the whole organization and the young guys is just how to win. Since I’ve been here, that’s all I’ve been doing.”

“Like I told y’all at Media Day, I started all the games last year that I played in and didn’t play in nearly enough of the fourth quarters that I wanted to play in,” he said. “So that really was my goal coming into this year. I wanted to give Coach a reason he should have me in in the fourth. I started last year and a lot of games I was unhappy because I didn’t play in the fourth quarter, probably because I didn’t deserve it. So I want to give him a reason to have me out there in the fourth.”

OKC Thunder center Kendrick Perkins recently strained his quad, and will not be available at the start of training camp. (Here’s your chance to shine, Steven Adams.) According to Thunder GM Sam Presti, Perkins will be re-evaluated in a couple of weeks. Per The Oklahoman: This would seem to crack the door a bit for […]

This would seem to crack the door a bit for Adams, who impressed during his rookie season, opened eyes with some gutsy postseason performances and seems to be pushing for a more expanded role in Year 2.

The rest of Presti’s preseason press conference, which was littered with defense-first, stick-to-the-plan statements, would indicate that Perkins remains the favorite to keep his starting role.

And it may play out that way. But Perkins’ sudden injury means Adams will receive more experience with the starters. He’ll be working with them extensively in practice. He’ll likely be out there with them at tip-off in the first few preseason games.

“They let anybody into the locker room, huh?” Perkins shouted after spotting Noah at the entrance of the dressing room while seated at his locker.

Russell Westbrook, from across the room, soon chimed in.

Noah then addressed Perkins directly, asking if he wanted him to leave and saying if Perkins wanted him out he would leave. Perkins, still seated, responded with an obscenity-laced retort, which he capped by saying “Get yo’ (expletive) up out of here.”

Team officials and security quickly huddled in an attempt to diffuse the rapidly escalating situation. Noah remained at the entrance of the locker room for a brief moment before exiting. Reporters later saw Perkins and Noah briefly exchange words once more in the hallway when they crossed paths.

[…]

Sefolosha had previously visited the visiting locker room in Chesapeake Energy Arena, something he customarily does and did as recently as the two teams’ October preseason game in Wichita, Kan. The Bulls often welcome former teammates; current Rockets swingman Ronnie Brewer visited the Bulls’ locker room last night in Houston.

Other Thunder players, such as the All-Star duo of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, were on the opposite side of the locker room during the incident, so they couldn’t see who Perkins was addressing. But when informed by reporters that it was Noah, they were amused, jokingly blamed Sefolosha and also seemingly supported Perkins’ actions.

According to Kendrick Perkins’ attorney, the OKC Thunder big man has been wrongly accused of striking a woman and her brother. Per the Oklahoman: “Kendrick Perkins did nothing wrong, and I am confident that he will be exonerated,’ said Matt Hennessy. of DeGuerin, Dickson, Hennessy & Ward. ‘My client takes these charges very seriously. He is a respectful and kind person and is anxious to address these charges for the sake of his family and his team. We will defend these allegations vigorously in court.’ In the state of Texas, the maximum punishment for assault with bodily injury, a Class A misdemeanor, is one year in county jail and a $4,000 fine. Perkins, who is accused of punching a woman and her brother, posted a $1,000 bond Thursday morning and was not seen at the team’s practice Thursday afternoon.”

OKC Thunder center Kendrick Perkins posted a $1,000 bond Thursday morning, and is being accused of having punched a woman and her brother outside a Houston nightclub back in July. Per the Oklahoman and KFOR TV: “He was not seen at the team’s practice Thursday afternoon. ‘We were made aware of the allegations,’ said Thunder general manager Sam Presti in a statement. ‘It is something we take seriously and are gathering more information. We will have no further comment at this time.’ […] His brother-in-law, Quincy Alpough, faces the same charge. According to court documents, the incident happened back in July outside the Nox nightclub in the 4700 block of Nett. The case was initially dismissed, but Perkins and Alpough were charged when it was re-filed.”

According to the Oklahoman, OKC Thunder center Kendrick Perkins underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on Tuesday. This marks the second summer in a row that Perk has had surgery after saying he didn’t require it: “The scope, while considered routine for players with previous injuries, is not something Perkins envisioned needing this summer. He insisted at his exit interview in May that he didn’t require any type of surgery this offseason. Perkins also said last month that he was “excited” about the prospects of finally going through a summer surgery-free. ‘To be honest with you, I was excited about this summer, being able to work on my game,’ Perkins said during an appearance at a team-sponsored youth camp. ‘This is my first summer without having surgery, so I’m just excited about it. I definitely didn’t like how I finished the season this past season, or the postseason. I was kind of embarrassed about the way I played. So the only way to go about it is to go back to the drawing board, and I’m just treating this summer like I’m a rookie again.’ […] Last July, Perkins had surgery to repair a partially torn right groin that plagued him throughout the 2012 postseason. He had previously said the injury wouldn’t require surgery. One week later, Perkins had surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left wrist.”

Thunder GM Sam Presti said the team will not amnesty Kendrick Perkins, who’s due $18.63 million over the next two seasons, and that the Thunder believe Perkins has “a lot of value to our team.” Didn’t look that way in the Playoffs… From the Oklahoman:

Sam Presti on the amnesty clause: “We just haven’t considered using the provision…We think Perk has a lot of value to our team.”

OKC Thunder center Kendrick Perkins recently tweeted that Shaquille O’Neal talks about himself too much on TV. After getting wind of this, Shaq naturally used his platform on TNT‘s “Inside the NBA” to mercilessly poke fun at Perk’s ongoing struggles.

Kawhi Leonard is having a solid game against the Thunder—11 points on 5-8 from the field, 2 rebounds and 2 steals as of this writing—and this sequence was (naturally) the highlight of that first-half performance.

According to the AZ Republic, the Suns are interested in a trade that would include Marcin Gortat in exchange for Kendrick Perkins. Jermaine O’Neal could also be on the move by tomorrow’s trade deadline: “ESPN.com reported New York’s interest in Jermaine O’Neal and Toronto’s interest in Sebastian Telfair while another source said there was All-Star break talk of Oklahoma City exploring Marcin Gortat and P.J. Tucker for Kendrick Perkins, Jeremy Lamb and a first-round pick. Perkins is the type of center to fit the new defensively geared culture, although he is limited offensively for a team wanting to post up its big men. Lamb probably would have been the Suns’ draft pick in June had Houston not made a trade to move up two spots and take him in front of Phoenix. The Suns do have $6.4 million of cap room to take on salary in a deal, but it is more likely that the Suns stand pat to protect their two first-round draft picks and salary-cap space, which leaves room to sign a maximum-level free agent.”

The NBA trade deadline is three weeks from tomorrow. By now each team should know if they’re going to be buyers or sellers. They now have three weeks to ready themselves for Playoff runs, cut costs, trade off-the-court distractions or blow the whole damn thing up. Good news for some lucky general managers—I did their work for them. Here are five trades I think would benefit all teams involved that should happen before the February 21 deadline.

The Financials: Gay gets paid more than the Young brothers combined, but because of CBA trade rules that I won’t embarrass myself by trying to explain, the deal works just fine.

What’s in it for Memphis:The Short Answer: They save money without taking a big hit in on-the-court production.The Long Answer: After trading away Marreese Speights and Wayne Ellington, the Grizz are under the luxury tax. That means they don’t have to trade away Gay, but they’re still over the salary cap and this deal saves them money.

Over the next three seasons, Gay is set to receive roughly $53.5 million (roughly $18 million annually). Over the next four seasons, Thaddeus is due just $35.2 million (roughly $9 million a year). Those numbers include this season, so some of that money has already been paid, but it’s still a big savings for Memphis—about $9 million annually, plus an extra year on the better Young’s deal.

On top of that, Thaddeus’ Player Efficiency Rating—a system created by John Hollinger, who now works in Memphis’ front office—is higher than Gay’s this year. He’s shooting around 52 percent from the floor on his way to 15 points with 7.2 boards. He steals and blocks, and seems like a perfect fit on the Grizzlies to me.

His downside is his propensity to post 11-point, 6-rebound games, but the Grizzlies are good enough to pick up his slack on those nights.

Meanwhile, Nick Young would replace the punch off the bench they lost in the trade with Cleveland, and expires after this season if Memphis feels like further cutting costs. Can he shoot you out of a game? Yes. But Memphis has the depth to keep him on the bench, or, at least, not pass to him, during one of his brutal games, but reap the rewards when he gets hot.

What’s in it for Philadelphia:The Short Answer: They create their own Big Three.The Long Answer: T-Young’s numbers look great overall, but his individual games aren’t as sweet. The Sixers need a more reliable scorer, since Evan Turner is a top candidate for LCPY (Least Consistent Player of the Year). Gay is a little trigger-happy and doesn’t get great bang for his buck considering how many shots he takes, but there’s no doubting his reliability as a mid-range scorer and clutch guy late.

If Andrew Bynum (by the way, how many times as “if” come before “Andrew Bynum” over the last bunch of years) re-ups with Philly (why wouldn’t he after the season he’s had), they’d have a very serious team next season. I would imagine most Sixers fans would sign on board for a lineup featuring All-Star Jrue Holiday, Evan Turner, Gay, Spencer Hawes and Bynum. They’d still have Jason Richardson and Lavoy Allen (and maybe Dorell Wright if they re-sign him) coming off the bench, as well as rookie Arnett Moultrie and whoever they take with what will likely be a mid-teens pick in the upcoming Draft (unless they make the Playoffs and Miami gets their pick).

Speaking of Philly making the Playoffs, they’re the big beneficiary of Rajon Rondo’s terrible injury. The Sixers sit just three games behind the Big Two in Boston for the eighth spot in the East right now. I know I’d bet on a team featuring Holiday, Gay and maybe Bynum to knock the Cs out of the Playoffs. In the long-term, the deal forms a team that can contend for first-round home-court advantage in a shallow Eastern Conference in future seasons.

The Financials: Simple. Perkins gets paid slightly more than Gortat. Lamb and Jones combined get paid slightly less than Brown.

What’s in it for Oklahoma City:The Short Answer: They get a lot better in the short-term.The Long Answer: The Thunder are an awesome team—probably the best in the West. But that’s not to say they don’t have a few holes. Mainly, Perkins is one of the least efficient guys in the NBA. He plays decent defense, but his offense is brutal. His 46 percent mark from the field doesn’t do his offensive ineptitude justice.

Enter Gortat, a career 55 percent shooter from the floor. He has a knack for getting open down low and is a quality finisher under the basket. Serge Ibaka is not a typical post scorer, and Gortat would bring yet another offensive dimension to OKC. Not to mention “The Polish Hammer” blocks nearly twice as many shots as Perkins in seven more minutes per game. Losing Perkins’ locker-room leadership might be tough for the Thunder, but the 28-year-old Gortat is a significantly better player (Gortat’s 16.4 PER is nearly twice Perkins’ 8.4).

Brown isn’t the most consistent scorer, but can pack a huge punch off the bench. He could likely work with Kevin Martin in the Thunder’s second unit. I don’t know about you, but I’d feel a lot more comfortable with Brown, who won two rings with the Lakers before cashing in with Phoenix, than Reggie Jackson on the floor come Playoff time.

Last season, the Thunder did not look good enough to beat the Heat in the Finals. Then they downgraded from James Harden to K-Mart (II). I can’t imagine that will put them over the top, but I think this trade would. Personal theory: If you can sniff a ring, go get it.

Meanwhile, Perry Jones has appeared in only 17 games, and Jeremy Lamb 16 this season. They’re not relevant to the Thunder’s short-term success.

What’s in it for Phoenix:The Short Answer: They get young talent for veterans.The Long Answer: The Suns (15-30) are going nowhere fast. This trade would stick them with Perkins for an extra season than they’d be paying Gortat, but it’s worth it. Nearly everybody is coming off the books after the ’14-15 season in Phoenix. That includes Channing Frye, who’s getting paid over $6 million annually and Michael Beasley ($6 million annually).

Perkins’ deal also expires after ’14-15, which falls right in line with the rest. They won’t have the dough to attack in free agency in a big way until that summer anyway, so having an extra year of a hefty salary probably won’t impact them much.

Just for paying Perkins and admitting defeat with a terrible team, they get two 2012 first-round picks—including one lottery pick. Both Jamb and Jones have loads of upside, and this deal has big potential for the Suns down the line.

Phoenix would be able to move forward with a core of Goran Dragic, Kendall Marshall, Markieff Morris, the underrated Jared Dudley, Lamb, Jones, their own lottery picks, a couple of the Lakers picks from the Steve Nash deal, a TWolves pick from the Wesley Johnson trade and, if they manage their books well, at least $30 million in cap space in the summer of 2015. Not bad.

Having played with both point guards, Kendrick Perkins considers Russell Westbrook and Rajon Rondo “divas”, but does so affectionately. Per ESPN: “Westbrook may not twist his wispy mustache while tying damsels to a railroad track, but he will deny your fans free queso-based delicacies by goaltending a smiling plush mountain lion’s half-court shot attempt. Twice. And then chuck the ball into the stands. ‘He’s night and day how he is off the court,’ said Kendrick Perkins. ‘On the court, just joking here, but you want to strangle him a little bit. But he’s night and day. He gets in a zone, man, and he just feels like he’s the best player on the court. Seriously.’ Said Kevin Durant: ‘He always starts us, ignites us with his energy.’ Westbrook’s physicality, owed to a long and muscular frame, is unlike most other point guards, Perkins said. His approach is also unique, but it does bear some resemblance to that of enigmatic Celtic Rajon Rondo, the center’s former floor leader and a player known as much for his surly in-game demeanor as his deft dishes. ‘They definitely different [from other point guards],’ Perkins said. ‘They both some divas. In a good way though.’ […] ‘No, just go out and try to win,’ Westbrook said when asked if he needs to be mad or in a zone. ‘If that makes me mad, then that’s fine. I don’t mind playing angry. I play angry a lot.'”

According to OKC Thunder center Kendrick Perkins, he’s the guy that teammates call when they have a problem such as not getting enough touches. Per Yahoo! Sports: “For Kendrick Perkins, the telephone calls from frustrated Oklahoma City Thunder teammates come with a far greater frequency than passes into the post. Sometimes, this is the blessing and the curse of playing with the greatness of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. In victory and defeat, the ball belongs to the NBA’s two best 20-something scorers and everyone else is left to sort through the scraps of shots. ‘I get phone calls at all hours of the night from different teammates,’ Perkins said. ‘And I’ve got to tell them: OK, you didn’t get yours tonight but… ‘ Perkins said. ‘So OK, take Serge [Ibaka]. I’ll tell him, ‘OK man, you got seven points tonight, then you need to go get eight blocks. Some nights it’s not going to be your night, where you can touch the ball. It’s like that on this team, especially when you’ve got scorers like Russ, K.D. and Kevin Martin leading the league in scoring.’ Twenty-four hours before Perkins made an immense block on the Brooklyn Nets’ Deron Williams in the final minute of the Thunder’s 117-111 victory at Barclays Center, Perkins gave a knowing nod and shrugged. ‘The game ends, you go home, take an hour break and then I know it’s mentoring time. Guys are gonna call.'”

The OKC Thunder traded away Jeff Green for Kendrick Perkins in February 2011, and tonight, Green will get his first chance to go up against his former team. According to the Boston Celtics’ forward, the game won’t carry any special significance (which is hard to believe.) Per the Boston Herald: “Do I still look at what Oklahoma City does? No,’ a nearly expressionless Green said. Did he keep track of them for a time after the trade? ‘No.’ Huh? ‘I move on easy,’ the easy talking 6-foot-9 forward said. […] ‘I wasn’t angry at all,’ he said. ‘I was happy. I mean, I’m in a great situation here. This is a great fit for myself, coming to a situation where I’m playing alongside Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo. I was happy.’ […] In other words, there will be no KG-Ray Allen stuff between Green and Perk tonight — or between Green and other Thunder types. He was planning to meet up with Durant when the Thunder hit town last night. ‘I keep in touch with Kevin (Durant),’ Green said. ‘I talked to Russell (Westbrook) for a hot second the other day because UCLA played Georgetown. I was close with Kevin and James Harden. That’s about it. I probably talk to (Durant) once a month — maybe twice a month. It’s hard to talk much because we’re busy. He’s doing what he needs to do, and I’m doing what I need to do. It doesn’t mean that we’re not close or we’re not friends. We’re just respectful of each other’s schedule and what we’re trying to do. But he’s still my brother from another (mother), and we support each other.’ Unless Green’s fibbing, there will be a cordial greeting and then just a bunch of basketball tonight. No private wars. No e-mails to be sent the way of Thunder general manager Sam Presti. ‘I know what you mean,’ Green said of the prodding. ‘Like, am I more excited to play them? But I’m really not. I could care less.'”

Last week, Zach Randolph and Kendrick Perkins nearly came to blows following a game between the Memphis Grizzles and OKC Thunder. The NBA fined Randolph $25,000 for approaching Perkins near the locker rooms. Z-Bo went into detail about what happened between the two big men, and hilariously bragged about his fighting skills. Per the Oklahoman (via ESPN Radio): “Q: Did you whoop his ass? A: ‘Man, nah, I didn’t whoop his ass. That’s the thing about it…I was surprised. I was surprised.’ Q: What happened in the back that the NBA is fining you for, because nobody knows the story? A: ‘I mean, it really wasn’t, I just, they said because I went through the double doors. I guess I went on their side. So I don’t know.’ […] Q: But it appeared to me Perkins wasn’t talking to you. He was talking to Marc (Gasol), right? A: ‘Well, you know, when you’re talking to Marc you’re talking to me. So that’s how that roll. I’m talking about on the court or off the court. You know, and that’s the same way with him. I think he got made because Marc had just came — remember that move where Marc had crossed him over at the elbow and then had pumped faked? And I said, ‘Oh my gosh. Bust his butt, Marc’ running down the court.’ […] Q: And then in the back, did you try to go in their locker room? A: ‘Nah, I didn’t go in their locker room. It was some doors; I had went on their side. Their locker room was like right there to the left. But I had went through some doors in the hallway. And I went through the doors. But it was a lesson learned. It won’t happen again. I ain’t gonna lose no $25,000 again. I’m done with all that bluffing on the court, because them guys do a lot of bluffing. I’m from the bluff city. We don’t do no bluffing, man. (Laughs).’ Q: Do you think Perkins got the point? Do you think he probably thought ‘This guy’s a maniac?’ A: ‘(Laughs). I don’t know. Perkins know me, so he know what’s up.’ Q: Could you whoop his ass? A: ‘(Laughs). I’m good with these hands, man. I’m a jackin’ dude. I’m pretty good with these hands so…Hey, every day I came out the house I had to fight, you know. Me and my brother.'”

The postgame screaming match between Zach Randolph and Kendrick Perkins from two nights ago is under investigation by the NBA. Per the Oklahoman: “Both players were ejected with 2:05 remaining in the fourth quarter of the Grizzlies’ 107-97 victory and had an altercation in a hallway near the Thunder locker room after leaving the court. The players were separated by Oklahoma City police officers patrolling the area. Security officials later said there was no altercation and there would be no investigation, but the league office confirmed Thursday it was looking into the incident to potentially levy fines and/or suspensions for both players. Afterward in the locker room, Randolph downplayed what transpired. ‘It wasn’t nothin’, he said. Asked what was said on the court, Randolph refused to share details. The game was nationally televised on ESPN and a courtside microphone picked up what was said. Perkins: ‘I’ll meet you by the bus.’ Randolph: ‘I’ll beat your ass.’ Asked Thursday what led to the incident, Perkins said: ‘Just too much talking. I wasn’t frustrated, but at the same time I have a problem with losing. … You do have to see this team three more times and we can’t be showing no signs of weakness.'”

The beef started late in the game last night, as the Memphis Grizzlies handily beat the OKC Thunder. Zach Randolph and Kendrick Perkins’ trash-talking got both bigs ejected — in this clip you can clearly hear Z-Bo tell Perk that he will beat his ass — and they proceeded to cuss each other out once away from the court. Per the Oklahoman: “After the two players were separated, Perkins ran off the court in front of the Thunder bench and into a hallway, where he had another altercation with Randolph outside the postgame interview room next to the Thunder locker room. The players were separated by Oklahoma City police officers. People in the postgame interview area heard something being slammed against the door. Security members huddled briefly thereafter to discuss the matter, but no action was taken against either player. The team locker rooms are roughly 50 feet apart on opposite sides of the hallway. An agitated Perkins declined to comment afterward. In the Memphis locker room, Randolph calmly dismissed both incidents. What was said on the court to get you both ejected? Randolph: ‘Aw, I didn’t say nothin’. What happened in the hallway after that? Randolph: ‘It wasn’t nothin’. It was a good, tough, hard-fought game. It was competitive, just out there playing, two physical teams that want to win, a lot of emotions flying, so just part of basketball.’ Did you and Perkins settle your differences? Randolph: ‘Man, I play basketball. I don’t worry about all that. Perk’s all right. There’s a lot of bluffin’ going on the court, that’s all, you know. And I don’t bluff.'”

The Boston Celtics are a “work in progress” early on this season, according to Kevin Garnett. But one bright spot has been the play of rookie Jared Sullinger, who reminds KG of former teammate Kendrick Perkins. Per the Boston Herald: “When Kevin Garnett plays and practices next to Sullinger, something about the rookie’s approach and decisions shouts ‘Perk.’ ‘I thought he did a great job,’ Garnett said of Sullinger’s first start during the Celtics’ win in Washington last Saturday. ‘He’s a no-nonsense guy. Not that I’m shooting down the other guys, but he’s a young fella, he comes in and does what you tell him. He’s a great rebounder. His IQ is incredible. He reminds me a lot of Perk, man. Not the defender Perk was, but his IQ moving the ball and being unselfish is the same.’ Sullinger learned this much — when Kevin Garnett speaks, the wisest thing to do is agree. ‘It means a lot,’ Sullinger said of the comparison. ‘First of all, it comes from Kevin. When Kevin gives anybody praise, he really likes you, I guess. It’s a blessing. But at the same time I have to keep working.’”

Kevin Durant isn’t the only musician on the OKC Thunder, y’know. Here are some of KD’s lesser-known teammates showing off their, um, skills in one of those typically low-budget local car dealership commercials.

According to OKC Thunder GM Sam Presti, Kendrick Perkins probably won’t take part in the team’s training camp and preseason games so that the big man can fully recover from offseason surgeries. Per CBS Sports: “After having two offseason surgeries, one on his wrist and one on his groin, Kendrick Perkins likely will miss all of the Thunder’s training camp and preseason games. ‘What we’re trying to do is have him ready for the first game of the regular season,’ said Thunder general manager Sam Presti. ‘His conditioning, his fitness levels — he’s done a fantastic job. His wrist is the thing we have to be very cautious with, and we will be.’ Perkins suffered a partially torn groin in the opening round of the playoffs against the Mavericks and played the entire postseason through the injury. He then tore a ligament in his wrist during the series against the Spurs and played through that as well.”

Kendrick Perkins refuses to buy into the hype surrounding the new-look Lakers, and says that his team is trying to win a title and not worried about their rivals from Los Angeles. Per the Oklahoman: “I just said it’s time to go to work,’ Thunder center Kendrick Perkins said about [Dwight] Howard joining the Lakers. ‘I knew the hype was going to be over there on that end and all that. But I’m glad the attention is off us because we’re the type that likes to put our hard hats on and do stuff and keep it under the radar. And at the end of the day, when you look at the box score, Oklahoma won. That’s the way we like to keep it.’ Not only is Perkins unfazed, but he also echoed several of his Thunder teammates who already have refuted the notion that the Lakers are now the team to beat in the West. ‘We are the Western Conference champs,’ Perkins said. ‘So at the end of the day, we’re not chasing nobody except for the ring. We’re chasing Miami to get a championship. It’s no guarantee who is going to be where. But we earned the Western champs so we’re not chasing the Lakers, we’re chasing a championship and that’s what it’s about.'”

There’s been speculation throughout the offseason that the OKC Thunder wouldn’t be able to keep rising star James Harden going forward — Harden is expected to receive max contract offers from Thunder rivals when his current deal expires — but teammate Kendrick Perkins (who, apparently, moonlights as an NBA reporter) claims that OKC will find a way to retain the bearded one. Per the Oklahoman: “Thunder center Kendrick Perkins, speaking after an appearance at a Thunder Fit event at a local middle school, said the two sides are ‘getting close’ on a deal that would keep the reigning Sixth Man of the Year in Oklahoma City. ‘We’re doing good. We’re making positive steps going forward,’ Perkins said of the organization’s offseason. ‘We got coach (Scott) Brooks locked in. We got Serge (Ibaka) locked in. And we’re getting close with James, and we’re getting close to keeping our unit together. And we’re still hungry.’ Harden is eligible to receive an extension of up to four years. Harden is believed to be seeking a contract worth the maximum allowable amount, which could be $58 million. But with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook already inked to maximum deals, as well as Ibaka and Perkins recently signing high-dollar extensions, the Thunder might not be able to afford to keep Harden, with more severe penalties for teams that exceed the tax level set to kick in prior to the 2013-14 season. If Harden doesn’t sign a deal by Oct. 31, he will become a restricted free agent next summer, which would allow him to hit the open market but gives the Thunder the right to match any deal he might be offered. ‘Once James gets here, it’s nothing to be said,’ Perkins said. ‘He’ll see his family and that’s all he needs. So once he sees everybody’s faces, that’s enough said.'”

Kendrick Perkins went under the knife for the second time this summer, getting a torn ligament in his left wrist operated on. Per the AP: “The club announced Thursday that Perkins underwent a successful procedure to repair a ligament tear in his left wrist. Perkins suffered the injury in the Western Conference Finals against the San Antonio Spurs. On July 12, the Thunder announced Perkins underwent a successful procedure on his right groin, which he initially injured during Game 4 in the opening round of the playoffs against the defending champion Dallas Mavericks. The 27-year-old Perkins is expected to miss 4-6 weeks before returning to normal offseason activities, but he is expected to be ready for the 2012-13 season.”

The OKC Thunder consider the right hip injury Kendrick Perkins was dealing with a minor one, but the big fella did undergo surgery yesterday to repair the problem. Reports the Oklahoman: “Perkins had said just after the season that the injury would not require surgery. But after a recent exam, it became clear that Perkins would need surgery to correct what team officials labeled a minor issue. Perkins will miss three to four weeks of basketball activities while healing from surgery. The injury, which the team listed as a right hip strain, occurred on May 5, late in the first quarter of Game 4 of the Thunder’s first-round playoff series against Dallas. After spending nine days listed as day-to-day, Perkins reinjured himself on May 14 while attempting a dunk in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals against the Los Angeles Lakers. Perkins played through pain at various points throughout the playoffs, but after the Thunder was eliminated in the NBA Finals he said the injury ‘hasn’t bothered me since about the Lakers series.'”

Kendrick Perkins and Scott Brooks put to bed the critical comments made by the OKC Thunder big fella after their Game 4 loss. From NBA.com: “They were up 23-12 when Brooks decided to go small, subbing Derek Fisher in for Perkins. And that seemed to be what Perkins was upset about. The OKC small lineups were a plus-3 in the final 3:17 of that first quarter, but Brooks played small the entire second quarter, which the Heat won 27-16. In total, the Thunder played big for just 14 minutes on Tuesday. They were a plus-4 in those 14 minutes, but that includes the hot start. In the third quarter, the Thunder starters were outscored 18-11 in five minutes. And they never played big after that. ‘I don’t think the game comes down to who plays and who doesn’t play,’ Brooks said Wednesday. ‘It’s how we play.’ […] ‘We’re going to roll with whatever Coach does,’ Perkins said. ‘If he wants to go with a big lineup, we’re going to support that. If he wants to go with a small lineup with one big, we’re going to support that. At the end of the day, it’s about sacrificing and getting a win. We’re all on the same page, and we’re pulling for each other, and we’ve all just got one goal, to sacrifice and come and play.'”

OKC Thunder head coach Scott Brooks has come under fire throughout the NBA Finals for his questionable lineup decision, but that’s usually done by fans and the media. After last night’s heartbreaking loss in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, Kendrick Perkins was critical of his coach. Per the Oklahoman: “It seems like they make plays and you guys don’t make plays. Was that the case again tonight? ‘I just don’t understand why we start out the first quarter the way we did, with the lineup that we had, and all of a sudden we change and adjust to what they had going on. So they won the last three quarters, and that’s what happened.’ So you’re talking about the group that went out there and got the 17-point lead wasn’t out there long enough? ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. So we just gotta make sure that we play together. The series is not over. We just have to keep taking it one game at a time. We win Thursday and we’re back to Oklahoma City.'”

Perk says he’s spoken to Kevin Garnett, and KG has indicated that he plans on returning next season, and his ultimate wish is to continue playing for Doc Rivers in Boston. Per the Globe: “Garnett is an unrestricted free agent and could re-sign with the Celtics or test the market and be courted by teams for the first time in his career. Garnett has never been an unrestricted free agent. ‘I feel like if he does return to basketball, I think that that would be the team,’ Perkins said of the Celtics. ‘I heard Kevin say a few times that he wouldn’t want to play for anybody but Doc, so it will be interesting to see. I still think he got a lot more years in him. He got a lot of love for the game and it would be hard to see Kevin walk away from the game right now.’ When asked if he sensed Garnett wanted to keep playing, Perkins said, ‘I do. I think he found some kind of new life, what do you call it? The fountain of youth, just how he’s been playing over these last couple of games in the playoffs and in the regular season, he’s almost a 20-10 guy. I hope he does come back. It’s good for the NBA. He’s still an icon in the league and you just like to see what he brings to the table.’”

“We’ve got to understand that over there in the locker room, there’s a team that really wants it,” Kendrick Perkins grumbled. “They’ve got a couple guys over there who want this. … They want it. Nothing’s going to be given to us, we’ve got to go take it. We were just careless and sloppy. … We’ve got to know that we are in the Finals. We’ve got to trust each other. Tonight, we got back to ‘I’ basketball, the individual shooting over two and three people.”

Kevin Durant said: “Two games in a row, man, so I’ve just got to play smarter next game.” […] After scoring 17 and 16 points in the previous two fourth quarters, Durant didn’t come through in crunch time, finishing 2-for-6 in the final period of Game 3. “I know I have to do a way better job,” Durant said. “We’ve just got to own up to it.”

“Experience is not overrated at all,” Dwyane Wade said. “Tonight that helped us win this ballgame.”

The next two games are in Miami, but this series is far from over. The OKC Thunder have shown resilience throughout this postseason, and they should be able to bounce back.

But will it be enough against these ultra-focused Miami Heat, who seem unflappable when the chips are down?

Not only are Miami and Oklahoma City locked at 1-1 in what looks to be an epic NBA Finals, but each team has brought the heat in the sneaker department, too. Check out some of the best kicks from the first two games of the series, and check back for more throughout the Finals. Who had the hottest shoes so far?

LeBron James and the Miami Heat may have lost last night, but James was certainly no slouch (30 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists.) Check him out crossing over Kevin Durant at the top of the key, followed by a big finish over and around Kendrick Perkins.

Kendrick Perkins was one of the main defensive anchors last night, as the OKC Thunder shut down the San Antonio Spurs in Game 3. Perkins had an even bigger chip on his shoulder than usual, due to round-the-clock criticism he’d heard following losses in the series’ first two games. Per NBA.com and the Oklahoman: “Kendrick Perkins turned and glared at TNT’s broadcast table. Apparently, the Thunder big fella had heard about the less-than-complimentary things the network announcers had said about his pick-and-roll defense in these Western Conference Finals. And apparently, he didn’t like it. After at least two first-half defensive stops aided by his play, Perkins stared down the broadcast crew. ‘Talk about that,’ he yelled. […] Kendrick Perkins could hear the whispers on the street, the loud statements on TV from Charles Barkley. He could feel the heat from some of the critics who even suggested that Thunder coach Scott Brooks should take him out of the starting lineup. He was too slow and plodding to play in tandem on the front line with Serge Ibaka against the ball movement of the Spurs, too ineffective against Tony Parker’s drives on the pick and roll.’In that last game Parker was able to get in there and get off his shots pretty easy,’ Perkins said. ‘So tonight I said, ‘I want to see what you got.’ I wanted to challenge him. I wanted to make him really work for it.’ […] Parker’s drop in production was the result of the OKC guards Thabo Sefolosha and Russell Westbrook fighting over screens and also Perkins stepping out on the pick and roll to cut off any path to the basket. ‘Me personally, I said I was gonna do a better job on the pick and roll,’ Perkins said. ‘I knew I had to come up. He was hitting. He was too comfortable. So I knew I had to come up on the screens. I watched Game 2 and seen what I needed to do a better job of. We all did a better job. I thought our guards got into the ball today and got over the screen, which helped a lot. We had active hands and we just played nice team defense.'”

Kendrick Perkins is nursing a right hip injury, and though officially considered a game-time decision, it’s hard to picture him sitting out Game 2 against the Lakers tonight. From the Oklahoman: “Thunder center Kendrick Perkins, who aggravated a right hip muscle strain early in the third quarter of Game 1 on Monday night, once again will be a game-time decision as to whether he will start against the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 2 at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Perkins initially was injured in Game 4 in a series-clinching victory at Dallas on May 5. Perkins rested for eight days awaiting this second-round series and reinjured the hip at the 10:18 mark of the third quarter in Monday’s 119-90 romp over the Lakers at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Thunder coach Scott Brooks said Perkins did not participate in Tuesday’s practice because of soreness. Perkins received treatment in the afternoon and will again on Wednesday. He will be re-evaluated before the game. A final decision must come at least one hour before tipoff. Roughly 75 minutes after Game 1, around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday inside the Thunder locker room, Perkins vowed he would play in Game 2 and estimated at that time he was approximately 75-percent healthy.”

According to a Thunder press release, Kendrick Perkins has a strained right hip, and there is no timetable for his return. The good news is Perkins will get time to rest after OKC swept the Mavs in the first round: “The Oklahoma City Thunder announced that an MRI today confirmed that Kendrick Perkins suffered a right hip muscle strain in last night’s game against the Dallas Mavericks. Perkins’ return to play will be based on his progress and recovery in the coming days.”

In a possible preview of the NBA Finals, the Miami Heat and OKC Thunder delivered body blows to one another for 48 minutes last night. Following the Heat’s big win, Udonis Haslem threw a verbal shot at Thunder big man Kendrick Perskins, whom he considers somewhat of a studio gangster, if you will. From the Sun-Sentinel: “If Kendrick Perkins’ shove against Dwyane Wade and Russell Westbrook’s takedown of LeBron James created straight-up animus, the Heat and Thunder will have to wait until June 10, the earliest possible start date for the NBA Finals, to personally address such issues. But if a game the first week of April can make a statement, then the Heat potentially move forward not only with revived hope of yet securing the league’s best overall record, but also of rekindling the franchise’s image of tough as well as talented. ‘I think we definitely turned it up a little bit,’ forward Udonis Haslem said during a morning appearance on WQAM. ‘We were a little frustrated. We got two pretty hard fouls coming from those guys on that end.’ While both James and Haslem downplayed Westbrook’s foul as one of exuberance in the heat of the moment, Haslem pointedly took umbrage to Perkins’ shove against Wade. Recall, earlier this season Perkins derided James for drawing attention to Blake Griffin’s highlight-of-the-season dunk on Perkins. Perkins also has a push-come-to-shove history with the Heat dating to his tenure with the Boston Celtics. That had Haslem firing back on his radio appearance. ‘I think sometimes people just use the TVs and the cameras and the crowd, you know, to put on a show,’ Haslem said of Perkins. ‘I don’t think he’s all that he shows out there on the court. I think anybody can be a tough guy with a thousand people watching on TV and referees who call fouls and stop the game and different things like that. I don’t seeing him being any tough guy that he puts on the show to be, at all … If we were playing at the park, I don’t think he’d be doing all that,’ Haslem said. While the Heat did not retaliate physically against the Thunder, Haslem spent the balance of the night giving Perkins an earful. ‘I voiced my opinion a little bit,’ Haslem said. ‘Not entitled to say what I said last night, but I got a little bit off my chest. Where I’m from, all the talking and playing like that, if some point it comes to a situation where you’ve got to back it up, he’s never had to back it up, because obviously referees always step in.’”

Yesterday, eight games and countless players brought us an exciting, and potentially foreshadowing, day/night of NBA hoops. From OKC‘s statement victory over Miami to Atlanta‘s four overtime thriller to Memphis downing L.A. at Staples, roll through the gallery above for Sunday’s 20 best plays.

Even though he never really was a factor for the Boston Celtics during a 37-game misadventure in his last NBA season, Shaquille O’Neal claims that the team misses his presence in the paint. From the Boston Herald: “Shaquille O’Neal didn’t exactly deliver a ringing endorsement for his last NBA employer. He clearly doesn’t see the Celtics [team stats] in the same class with the Eastern Conference elite. And he acknowledged that his injury-encouraged departure from playing has helped drive the Celts deeper into an inside power outage that has them among the worst rebounding teams in the league. ‘It’s a different team,’ said O’Neal. ‘They miss me. They miss Kendrick Perkins. It’s a different team. Hopefully guys like Brandon (Bass) will step up and give Kevin (Garnett) some relief.’ As for the Celtics prospects going forth this season, O’Neal was tepid at best, while pretty much drawing a line in the sand on their upside. ‘The good thing about their team is they’re not in a situation where they’re trying to get homecourt advantage throughout (the playoffs) and all that stuff,’ he said. ‘You know, (coach) Doc (Rivers) made a good point the other day that they don’t want to be in the eighth spot and face Miami. But if they can get to the fifth or sixth spot and play somebody that have a shot against, maybe they can make some noise. Who knows?’ When asked flatly how far be believes the Celtics can go this year, Shaq said, ‘I think they can move up.’ Tepid may be pushing it.”

LeBron James doesn’t particularly care that his tweet last week hurt Kendrick Perkins’ feelings, and made fun of the way he gets blamed for virtually everything in the world. From the Sun-Sentinel and ESPN: “James, who marinated in the Perkins report until commenting on it after the loss, was stunned by the reaction it generated. ‘For me, social media and Twitter is all about connecting with your fans,’ James said. ‘From day one, that’s why I got to Twitter, to connect to my fans. I would never apologize for anything like that when I’m connecting with my fans.’ James said he certainly never ‘called out’ Perkins. ‘I can see why he may have felt embarrassed,’ he said. ‘I don’t think I was the only one that reacted to that unbelievable play by Blake, and that’s what it was all about, me acknowledging how great of a play it was. If Kendrick Perkins had dunked on somebody else on the other end, I would have done the same thing. […] A polarizing figure, James said he’s gotten used to being targeted by fans, media and even his own peers. ‘I’m an easy target; if someone wants to get a point across — just throw Lebron’s name in there,’ James said. ‘You could be watching cartoons with your kids and you don’t like it, you say, ‘Blame it on LeBron.’ If you go to the grocery store and they don’t have the milk that you like, you just say, ‘It’s LeBron’s fault.’ […] As for [Larry] Bird’s comments, James merely nodded his head. ‘It’s simple,’ he said. ‘Kobe has five rings and I have none, so it’s easy to say that. If I have five rings and Kobe has none, then it would probably be the other way around.'”

LeBron James was just as excited about the Griffin dunk as anyone, which Perkins took offense to. Kendrick ripped LeBron in an interview with Yahoo! Sports last night:

Perkins respected Griffin for not making a spectacle of the dunk afterward or gloating about it. But he wasn’t too appreciative of LeBron James tweeting praise to Griffin. Several NBA players commented about the dunk on Twitter and in media interviews, but the only one that bothered Perkins was James. Shortly after the dunk, James tweeted, “Dunk of the Year! @blakegriffin just dunked on Kendrick Perkins so hard!!! Wow! I guess I’m No. 2 now. Move over #6.” James was referring to his alley-oop dunk he threw down after jumping over Chicago Bulls guard John Lucas III a day earlier.

“You don’t see Kobe [Bryant] tweeting,” Perkins said. “You don’t see Michael Jordan tweeting. If you’re an elite player, plays like that don’t excite you. At the end of the day, the guys who are playing for the right reasons who are trying to win championships are not worrying about one play. They also are not tweeting about themselves talking about going down to No. 2. I just feel [James] is always looking for attention and he wants the world to like him.”

Kendrick Perkins added that as a defender, he will never hesitate when he sees someone like Blake Griffin charging towards him. It’s his job to protect the rim, and if that means getting dunked on and humiliated from time to time, then so be it.

Should the OKC Thunder and Miami Heat meet in this year’s NBA Finals, a tantalizing possibility in and of itself, this Kendrick Perkins/LeBron James beef would make for a fascinating subplot.

“I have no appreciation for it at all,” Durant said. “I really wasn’t impressed. He finished it, so what? We’ve moved on. That’s not why we lost the game … Any time you guys ask me about my teammates getting dunked on, or is crossed up or a shot is made on him, it was a bad play for me and I don’t like it,” Durant said. “I have nothing against Blake, don’t get that wrong. But it was against us, so I’ve got to stick up for my teammate.”

“I wasn’t surprised [of the attention] because Blake is a poster child,” Durant said. “He dunks the ball a lot and he makes spectacular plays. If it wasn’t against us, maybe I would have said it was a good play. But it was against us, so it was a bad play.”

Before anyone calls Kevin Durant a “hater” or any such sort of ridiculous thing, it’s important to revisit what kind of competitive edge he has. Recall during last season’s Playoffs, when Durant shot down a reporter’s silly question about being happy for Dirk Nowitzki after the Mavs eliminated OKC. He’s a competitor through and through.

It would have been strange for Kevin Durant or any of Kendrick Perkins’ other teammates to do anything but downplay the Blake Griffin dunk.

“Well, it happens,” said Perkins. “At the end of the day if you’re a shot blocker, you’re going to get dunked on. It was a great play that he made. Obviously I wish I wasn’t in it, but it was a great play that he made. Definitely.”

There was some debate among journalists while waiting for the Thunder locker room to open. Did Griffin initiate contact with his off hand? Should it have been an offensive foul? “It was a clean dunk,” said Perkins. Kendrick didn’t get a great look at the play as it unfolded. “I didn’t know what happened,” said Perkins. “I just knew I was trying to get to the rotation. Our defensive coverage had broke down and that’s what it was.”

Here’s the sequence of events that transpired Monday night: A.) Blake Griffin dunks all over Kendrick Perkins, completing his best dunk since the Timofey Mozgov incident, or, perhaps, ever. B.) Millions of NBA fans rush to Twitter, causing things like “Mozgov” “Kendrick Perkins” and “Shawn Kemp” (yeah, we don’t know) to trend worldwide. C.) Amongst those millions of NBA fans are a couple dozen NBA players, all of whom had wrapped up their games earlier or had the night off altogether. They send tweets not unlike those of the average fan. To paraphrase: “OMG BLAKE GRIFFIN!!!!!1!” D.) We compile all of those NBAers’ best reactions to form a tweetcap, which can be viewed by rolling through the gallery above. Enjoy.

Last night, when the Thunder took on the Celtics, it was not only a big win for Oklahoma City, but also a homecoming for an integral piece of Boston’s most recent title team, center Kendrick Perkins. Visibly emotional before and even during the game, Perk told Jessica Camerato of CSN New England that he was confused, and is still not fully detached from the C’s: ‘“The whole day I was confused, especially yesterday,” Perkins said following the Thunder‘s 97-88 win over the Celtics. “I really didn’t know what to expect. Mentally, I was just out of it. I didn’t know whether to shoot the ball, pass the ball, hug the guy. I didn’t know what to do. I’m just really glad it’s over. I’m just glad we play in two different conferences so I don’t have to keep going through this emotional breakdown.” […] “No, I haven’t [emotionally detached from the Celtics],” he said prior to the game. “I’m definitely happy where I’m at, never taking that for granted. I’m definitely happy in Oklahoma. I was fortunate to leave one great situation and go to another one. But it’s a bond that you form, especially when you win a championship with guys, and also I’ve been here since a young boy at 18 all the way to the age of 26. So it’s not like a little string you cut and just say ya’ll go your separate ways and that’s just the end of it. At the end of the day, I’m happy and I’m grateful for where I’m at, but I’d be lying to you if I said it’s just a string and I’m cool, I’m not attached and stuff like that, even to the city of Boston.”‘

Looking back on it, Kendrick Perkins now says that he foresaw his shocking trade from Boston to OKC last season, and he’s itching to go up against his old team in Beantown tonight. From SI: “When the NBA lockout ended last month, Kendrick Perkins found himself searching the Thunder schedule for one game in particular: Jan. 16, Oklahoma City’s lone trip to Boston. ‘I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t look for it,’ Perkins said. ‘With the short season, I didn’t know if we would be going back there. I’m looking forward to it.’ It has been 11 months since Boston shipped Perkins to Oklahoma City, breaking up the core of a team that, when healthy, Perkins reminds a reporter, never lost a playoff series. The decision to trade Perkins financially motivated: Under the former collective bargaining agreement, the Celtics could offer Perkins only a four-year, $22 million extension. He declined. Boston could have increased its offer in the offseason but with the exploding center market — witness the four-year, $56 million deal Tyson Chandler signed with New York or the four-year, $43 million contract DeAndre Jordan inked with the Clippers last month — the front office was unwilling to commit major money to an offensively limited center coming off a major knee injury. While the trade came as a shock to many, Perkins says he saw it coming. ‘I kind of expected it a little bit,’ Perkins said. ‘Out of the five starters, I was the only one who wasn’t an All-Star. I was coming off an ACL injury and they were winning without me. When I was hurt Shaq and Jermaine [O’Neal], they played well. I think they wondered ‘Is he really that valuable to the team?’ They probably underestimated what I do, the little things that I do, on the court. Not my teammates or the coaches, but ownership, they probably did think it was easy to do what I was doing for the team.’ […] ‘Removing Perk from our team pulled away some of our armor,’ said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. ‘It allowed other teams see us as vulnerable, that they could beat us. Over the summer I heard from people in Orlando and Miami saying things like ‘Perk’s gone, now we can beat them.'”

Kendrick Perkins still hasn’t gotten over being traded last season from the Celtics to Oklahoma City. He made his return to Boston last night for Rajon Rondo’s charity game at Harvard, and told the Boston Herald he’s still hurt by the way he was shipped out of town: “It still hurts that I got traded, but then the city of Oklahoma has been great to me. They’ve embraced me with open arms, and I have no complaints about the city of Oklahoma and the whole organization.” Perkins’ first visit to the Garden as a member of the Thunder would have occurred Jan. 16. Indeed, if the lockout ends, that still could be the moment when reality finally bites in a very sweet and sour way. Last night’s reception gave him a sample. “It hit me,” he said of the ovation from a crowd of approximately 1,900 that paid $50 or $100 to see some NBA players. “I was nervous at first stepping back out there, but it’s not going to be my last time coming to Boston. I was just happy to be playing in front of the fans. I never knew I missed it as much as I did until I got in there,” Perkins said. “I missed the whole city of Boston, the whole of New England, and it just felt good playing basketball here. It’s always overwhelming. You try to catch yourself from dropping a tear, but like I always say, the city has been good to me since I came into the NBA at a young age at 18. I’ll never take it for granted, and I definitely appreciate all of the support when I come back to New England. I hated to leave. God does everything for a reason, but my heart is still in Boston and New England. It was just fun to be back.”

After Kendrick Perkins was traded from the Celtics to the Thunder, many wondered why it didn’t seem like Perkins was fitting in well with his new squad. Well, according to the NY Daily News, Perk wasn’t happy with the move at all, and even went as far as to criticize his new point guard, comparing him not-so-favorably to his previous point man in Boston: “Even after going all the way to the Western Conference finals last June, the Thunder faces some big internal issues if and when we have a season. As much as coach Scott Brooks chafes at GM Sam Presti’s meddling, his presence in the locker room, and his demands that the Thunder continue to improve from within, the organization is a lot more concerned with how Kendrick Perkins treats Russell Westbrook. After arriving from the Celtics last season and being looked at as the veteran leader Oklahoma City needed to take the next step to compete for a title, Perkins went hard at Westbrook with his verbal criticisms, often saying that the Thunder’s playmaker couldn’t match Rajon Rondo as a playmaker. Those words didn’t sit well with Westbrook, who already had been criticized for shooting too much and was the subject of a benching heard-round-the-NBA when the Thunder played the Mavs in June. The Thunder gave Perkins a new four-year deal worth $35 million, so the team is committed to him. But it would like him to ease up on Westbrook. A lot.”

There’s a Q+A with the Big Fella today up on NOLA.com, and in it Shaq says he told Celtics GM Danny Ainge not to do the Kendrick Perkins deal because of his own uncertain health. Here’s what he had to say: “At 39, I wasn’t mentally on the down slope. But I used to feel really terrible after scoring eight points. This ain’t me, the Diesel scoring eight points. My mind was on winning the whole thing, and we had a chance to get the second spot (in the Eastern Conference), and we ended up getting the fourth spot. I even told (Boston General Manager) Danny Ainge not to do the Kendrick Perkins deal with Oklahoma City. I told them I might not be ready, and I’m definitely not coming back. Those guys did what they’ve got to do. I wasn’t surprised; I’ve seen it before. They say all that blah, blah, but you know it’s always going to be something different.”

Jeff Green admits that it wasn’t the easiest thing in the world to come into Boston as the guy they traded Kendrick Perkins for. As a restricted free agent, Green also doesn’t know what the future holds. From Yahoo! Sports: “Green wouldn’t mind a chance to redeem himself with the Celtics next season after the lockout ends. But as a restricted free agent, it’s uncertain whether he will get that chance in Boston or have to adjust to his third team in two seasons. ‘They’ve been together for a number of years,’ Green said of the Celtics. ‘They’ve already won a championship, they’ve already have a system, they already have their chemistry and that bond on that team. ‘It was tough to go into that situation.’ … Boston broke up a starting lineup that had delivered two trips to the NBA Finals – and the 2008 championship – by sending center Kendrick Perkins and guard Nate Robinson notes to the Thunder in a deal for Green and center Nenad Krsticnotes. The Celtics wanted Green for his versatility and defensive potential. They hoped that Krstic and Shaquille O’Neal and Jermaine O’Neal could offset the loss of Perkins. With the Celtics hoping to return to the Finals, Green faced pressure to fit in quickly and make a scoring impact. But just like other recent midseason Celtics acquisitions (Sam Cassell, Stephon Marbury and Michael Finley), Green was tentative and uncomfortable. It also didn’t help that Perkins had been popular in the locker room and with fans. ‘The one thing about me is that I’m not trying to fill anybody’s shoes,’ Green said. ‘Kendrick is a totally different player than myself. People looked at me being the type of player I am and with the name I have going into this situation, they expected me to fill his shoes.'”

Kendrick Perkins’ lawyer told the public that his client is innocent, and now he’s told the courts the same thing. From 1520 KOKC: “Thunder starting center Kendrick Perkins pleads not guilty of charges of public intoxication and disorderly conduct. Perkins allegedly got into a scuffle with the manager of a Beaumont, Texas sportsbar. Perkins was in his hometown to host a charity basketball game for his foundation. His attorneys state that he didn’t have a drop of alcohol that night.”

Kendrick Perkins’ lawyer says his client did nothing wrong when he found himself in handcuffs this past weekend. From kiiitv (via I am a GM): “Perkins was arrested early Saturday morning after what Beaumont police call a disturbance at The Ticket sports bar, off College Street. The Oklahoma City Thunder center was booked in the Jefferson County Jail and released a short time later after posting bond. Police say Perkins threatened to get physical with club management and was arrested for Public Intoxication and Disorderly Conduct. In a press released obtained by 12 News HD, Beaumont attorney Langston Scott Adams says, quote ‘Mr. Perkins has maintained his innocence to the charges and is recovering at home with family suffering from injuries he received during the incident.’ Adams claims witnesses are giving different accounts to what happened Saturday morning than what Beaumont police are reporting.”

KFDM reports Perkins was taken to Jefferson County Correctional Facility in Perkins’ hometown of Beaumont, TX at 4:17 a.m. and released minutes later.

KFDM has confirmed that NBA star Kendrick Perkins was arrested in Beaumont early Saturday morning. He was booked into the Jefferson County jail around 4:00a.m. on charges of public intoxication and disorderly conduct. The charges are a class C misdemeanor. Per Texas penal code 12.23, an individual guilty of a class C misdemeanor shall be punished by a fine not to exceed $500. Perkins posted bond of $150 shortly after being booked and were released.

Perk was in town to host a celebrity game and hold a camp for area kids. The game, which was scheduled for Friday, was allegedly cancelled after Perkins had an incident in Stephen Jackson‘s Port Arthur home late Thursday.

The arrest comes after Perkins reportedly had an accident at Stephen Jackson’s home in Port Arthur late Thursday night. KFDM confirmed a 27 year old male was taken from Jackson’s home by ambulance to the Medical Center of Southeast Texas. The subject was treated for minor injuries and released.

For the most part, the Thunder just didn’t look like the usual Thunder last night, and OKC center Kendrick Perkins thinks he knows why. Via the Oklahoman: “Dallas’ lead stood at 22 with 8 1/2 minutes left in the third period and was at 18 with 1:30 left on the third-quarter clock. OKC didn’t get it back to single digits until Russell Westbrook scored on a driving layup with 6:33 left to play. ‘It’s really tough to come back from 20 down,’ said Nick Collison. ‘You’re going to make a run and eventually they’re going to make some plays. You need to be almost perfect at that point when you get that big of a hole.’ The Thunder has toyed with this disturbing trend throughout the playoffs. Oklahoma City has trailed after one quarter in 11 of its 15 games this postseason. But this was as bad as it’s ever been. ‘Tonight, we didn’t trust each other,’ said Kendrick Perkins. ‘We just got to have trust in each other. That’s the bottom line.’ But Perkins continued. ‘When we get down, I don’t like our body language,’” Perkins said. ‘We got to do a better job of holding our heads up and continuing to keep pushing.’ For the first time this series, the Thunder couldn’t rely on Kevin Durant. He scored 24 points with 12 rebounds and five assists, but went just 7-for-22 from the field and missed all eight of his 3-point tries. Westbrook bounced back from a well-documented fourth-quarter “benching” in Game 2 to score a game-high 30 points on 8-for-20 shooting but had seven turnovers. This time, Westbrook played the entire second half and scored 14 points in the final frame.”

As Kendrick Perkins knows well, criticism can often be relentless, especially at this stage in the Playoffs: “How can a player so good be portrayed as a player so bad? This much is certain: Westbrook’s teammates are sick of it. One of them stands 6-foot-10, weighs 280 and wears an omnipresent scowl. ‘I am getting tired of the criticism that he’s got to take day in and day out,’ Perkins said of Westbrook. ‘We won the game. Eric played his behind off, and yet it (reporting) still came down to coach benching Russ in the fourth quarter.’”

One game into the Western Conference Finals, and we already have some good storylines developing. ESPNDallas brings the info: “Kendrick Perkins and Tyson Chandler can’t even agree on whether there is bad blood between the big men… ‘Me and Tyson never got along. I’m serious,’ said Perkins, whom the Thunder acquired in a trade deadline deal with the Boston Celtics. ‘He don’t like me, I don’t like him and that’s pretty much how it’s been. Everybody always looks at me as kind of like a dirty player if you’re on the opposite team, but he’s just as dirty as anybody else.’… ‘I have nothing against him,’ Chandler said of Perkins. ‘He won a championship with the Boston Celtics, and that’s where I’m trying to take my team. I mean, I’ve got respect for him, what he was able to accomplish. But all the chippy stuff, the after-the-ball stuff, that’s all nonsense and I’m not going to get involved with it.'”

Today, Doc Rivers provided some further insight into his thoughts regarding the trade, citing a resulting lack of continuity amongst the new players and stating in hindsight, he would have waited until the end of the season to complete the deal.

“‘Well, it was more not that the trust went away, the know-how went away,” Rivers said. “The continuity went away. That’s what the trade affected more than anything. Obviously, Perk was great to our team and all that. But it was more that you have new guys playing different positions and you had a guy who could literally reach back into a playbook and throw out something that was three or four years old and they all knew it, when Perk was there.

‘I would wait until after the year is over. I’ll put it that way. I do think Jeff Green has a chance to be a starter for us in the future and a hell of a basketball player. And Krstic can help. But making that trade at the time we made that trade, that made it very tough for us. And not only that, we added other pieces as well that we tried to fit in.

‘It was just a lot of moving parts to a team that the advantage that we had was that we had continuity, everybody else was new. Chicago was new and the Heat were new. They couldn’t fall back on what we could fall back on with our starting five. Once we made that trade, we took that advantage away.’”

Rivers also noted that the chemistry between Shaquille O’Neal and Boston’s starters gave the team confidence to make the trade, but when the Big Baryshnikov became sidelined with a seemingly never-ending calf and Achilles injury, the back-up plan was never given a chance.

A big part of Perkins’ heart remains in Boston, which helps explain why he wasn’t happy to see the Celtics booted out of the postseason by the Miami Heat, thus crushing his dream of playing against them for the NBA title. From the Star-Telegram: “What happened to the Boston Celtics against the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference semifinals was something Kendrick Perkins didn’t see coming. The Heat eliminated the Celtics, 4-1, Wednesday in their best-of-seven series and sent them to an early summer vacation. Perkins, now the starting center for the Oklahoma City Thunder after spending eight years with the Celtics, thought Boston had enough left in the tank to get past the Heat. ‘I am surprised,’ Perkins said. ‘I wasn’t expecting them to go down 4-1. I was expecting at least a seven-game series, or them to win it.’ The Celtics traded Perkins and guard Nate Robinson to the Thunder on Feb. 24 for Jeff Green and Nenad Kristic. In his heart and soul, Perkins is still bleeding Celtic green. ‘I’d be lying to you if I would tell you I was disconnected from them,’ he said. ‘One thing about it is I spent eight years over there. The only thing about it is that we knew everything about each other. When the trade happened it definitely was surprising to everybody, but this is a business. But at the same time I was wishing the best for those guys, wishing that we both could probably end up in the Finals and meet up for something crazy like that.'”

He’ll forever be linked to GM Danny Ainge and the guy he was traded for (Kendrick Perkins), but Jeff Green is ready to make Boston his home for a while. From the Globe: “Reserve forward Jeff Green, a restricted free agent this summer, said after tonight’s 97-87 loss to the Miami Heat that he’d like to play in Boston next year. ‘This is a great place,’ said Green. ‘I’ve just got to get better for myself personally. This being my fourth year, making it to the second round, this is a great experience for myself, just going through it. This is going to help me in the long run.'”

During his tenure in Boston and under the tutelage of Doc Rivers, Kendrick Perkins was taught the philosophy of ‘ubuntu’: an African ideology that underscores the importance of unity and working together to achieve success.

After the Thunder lost to the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 1, Perkins encouraged Kevin Durant to gather the team and watch the game tape together. A players-only meeting to discuss what mistakes were made and how to correct them.

Judging by the way the Thunder played the Grizzlies last night, the meeting paid off.

“Durant took Perkins’ suggestion and arranged for a players-only dinner at his house on Monday night. The team dined on a Thanksgiving-worthy spread prepared by Durant’s personal chef and watched every minute of OKC’s disheartening loss to the Grizzlies. The players stopped the video at times to discuss specific breakdowns. By the end of the evening, they were in agreement on what needed to be done to improve.

They must have been right, too. Twenty-four hours later, the Thunder walked off the court at Oklahoma City Arena with a series-evening 111-102 victory. At least a few of the Thunder thought the seeds for the victory were planted at their clear-the-air, players-only meeting, the team’s first of the season.

‘Perk did it,’ Durant told Yahoo! Sports. ‘He wanted us to do it, and everybody listens to Perk.’”

Saturday’s Game 3 will be ripe with emotion as the Grizzlies look to bounce back in their return to Memphis.

With Perkin’s filling the role of elder-statesman for the Thunder, it will be interesting to see if the Grizzlies, led by the bruising but untested bodies of Z-Bo and Marc Gasol, can find an answer to Oklahoma’s adjustments and continue their surprising Playoff run.

Z-Bo’s dramatic star turn in this year’s postseason has led to some highlights off the court as well, mainly in front of reporters’ microphones. Fox Sports has the latest bit of trash talk from the Grizzlies’ dominant power forward: “I take full accountability of this game,’ said the 6-foot-10, 280-pound [Kendrick] Perkins, who had a mere two points and six rebounds. ‘I feel like I let us down.’ The No. 4 Thunder got plenty of points from perimeter guys Kevin Durant (33) and Russell Westbrook (29). But the Thunder’s image of being soft inside, supposedly vanquished with Perkins’ arrival, returned. At least Perkins didn’t exhibit any nice-guy talk afterward by heaping praise on [Zach] Randolph. That was Durant’s job. ‘You can’t stop him,’ Durant said. ‘He’s an animal . . . He’s the best power forward in the league.’ Perkins didn’t rubber stamp that endorsement. Perkins declined to name his top power forward, but it’s not Randolph. ‘If he says so,’ Perkins said about Durant’s opinion. ‘I don’t agree . . . I’m not going to give my opposing opponent the credit that I got to go against. So if Kevin says (Randolph is) the best power forward, then that’s Kevin’s opinion.’ After being told in a news conference about Durant’s compliment, Randolph said, ‘Oh, yeah, I got to agree with that. Thanks, KD. I appreciate it.’ Randolph also said that, overall, ‘I don’t get lot of respect that I deserve.’ Certainly not from Perkins. Informed what the Boston big man had said, the 6-9, 255-pound Randolph [said]: ‘Perk’s good, but all Perk can do is foul me. That’s the only thing he can do. The best thing about his defense on me is to foul me . . . He can’t (stop Randolph). He’s too slow. He’s a big body. He can foul. I don’t think nobody in the league can stop me. Not only Perk. I tell Perk to his face. I already told him before.'”

Denver and OKC capped off an incredible start to this year’s NBA Playoffs last night, a weekend that saw nothing but exciting, wire-to-wire games.

Naturally, the refs had to screw up what was arguably the most entertaining tilt of the entire bunch.

With just over a minute remaining, Kendrick Perkins (with his hand touching both the net and rim) clearly made a basket interference violation by tipping in Russell Westbrook’s missed jumper. The illegal basket seemed to deflate the Nuggets, and OKC held on for a tough Game 1 victory behind Kevin Durant’s 41 points.

[George] Karl didn’t wait long to review the video evidence after the game. Nuggets officials then sent a text message to Stu Jackson, the NBA’s executive vice president of basketball operations, complaining about the non-call. “Three-fourths of the ball is still in the cylinder when Perkins touches it,” Karl said. “Three-fourths of the ball, not half of the ball. What can I say? It’s tough. When you fight hard, it’s hard because guys give you everything you possibly can give there.”

A goaltending violation would have given the Nuggets the ball with a one-point lead and the final minute approaching. Karl believes the Nuggets were so upset by the non-call that their play was affected the rest of the game. Following a timeout, Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin walked to the scorer’s table and complained. Fifteen seconds later, he lofted an errant 21-foot jump shot. “It was goaltending, man, all the way around,” Martin said. “Everybody in the building and everybody on TV saw it.” Said Karl: “I was in shock. Because of it, I don’t think we executed very well in the last minute of the game. It kind of froze us.”

This has the makings of a long, wild and testy series, with both teams lobbing verbal grenades at one another seemingly every day.

Here’s to hoping this is the last time the refs’ unfortunate role in the proceedings is mentioned.

The ripping, rumbling and roaring Thunder stormed through the NBA’s regular season, reeling off win after win. Not new to the spotlight, Oklahoma City began making noise last season after their heart wrenching loss to the Lakers in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. Half a second away from taking the eventual NBA champs to an unexpected Game 7, “Laker luck” seemed to rear its ugly head once again as Pau Gasol won the game with an unlikely put-back following a Kobe miss. The young team entered the series with unknown expectations and emerged with a wealth of experience. With budding stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook beginning to blossom and the mid-season acquisition of former Celtic center, Kendrick Perkins, the forecast for any potential post-season opponent looks awfully cloudy.

Last season had to have been one of the worst welcomes to post-season basketball that a new franchise could possibly have. A clean sweep would have been quick and painless, but the way they lost must been like having your heart ripped out. Especially to the thousands of Oklahoma City residents who rallied around their new hometown heroes. But instead of letting it keep them down, the Thunder came out of it a more confident team, posting their second consecutive 50-win season. Kevin Durant, the team’s all-world talent and young leader, has all the points and accolades, but he knows that the most important part of the game is what happens in those closing moments.

“We know that on any night and any possession, you can get beat and it can cost you the season,” said Durant. “We know what it takes, but we also know how dreadful it is to lose in the last second, lose off one possession and things like that; so, we’re growing up.”

In only his fourth season, Durant is a lock to secure his second consecutive scoring title. And at the age of 22, it’s scary to think that he still has room to grow. His offensive abilities are practically endless. He maneuvers impressively through screens, and has the catch and shoot ability of a younger, taller, and somehow skinnier Ray Allen. Long and lanky, explosive and deadly, the Durantula has quickly crawled his way into the ranks of the NBA’s elite.

“We’ve been there before and that experience is a big teacher for us, we have some veteran guys here that have been through it all,” said Durant. “Our confidence is sky high and we just have to keep playing, keep being humble.”

But with all the tools to dominate every aspect of the game, this Batman is not without his Robin. With his freakish, frogish athletic ability, Russell Westbrook physically overshadows any other point guard in the League. Pumping up his production from over a year ago to an impressive 21 points and 8 assists per game, Russell acknowledges that the team still has a few more preparations that need to be made before the Playoffs begin.

“Being very defensive, that’s a key for us in taking that next step,” said Westbrook. “We know how physical it’s going to be and how tough it’s going to be. We just have to be ready.”

While questions may arise about the Celtics’ acquisition of former Thunder player, Jeff Green, the integration of Kendrick Perkins into the Oklahoma City frontline can only spell trouble for the rest out west. In this line-up of somewhat scrawny athletes, Kendrick Perkins is the big body on the block that the team has been lacking. Not wasting any time, Perkins has seamlessly acclimated to the Thunder’s style of play.

“You know one thing about me is that it’s not hard to fit in. It’s not like I need 20 looks or anything to that nature,” said Perkins. “I’m a guy who’s a role player, so I just go from there.”

As a sort of outsider with an insider perspective, Perkins sees his new team as more than just a talented young group of players.

“They’re guys who love winning, who love playing the game. You don’t really find that too much. They have a deep passion for the game and they take losses hard.

“I see a team that is starting to play well together. A team that thinks defense first. I see us getting better every day and we keep improving. I’m happy to be a part of it,” said Perkins.

Picking up where Jeff Green left off, James Harden has taken full advantage of his newfound minutes. Harden possesses a silent, but deadly shot, rim-rattling capabilities and last but not least, a boisterous beard –which he informed me is rather easy to maintain; requiring only a small amount of impetuous picking throughout the day.

Joining Perk down low is the ever-improving Serge Ibaka, or “Sir Chewbacca” as we call him in the streets. Ibaka has added a deadly mid-range jumper to go with his already devastating post defense. Ibaka and Perkins give OKC the speed, strength and size down low to match-up with any frontline in the League, including that of the Los Angeles Lakers.

What separates Oklahoma City from most other teams in the League is that they have a group of guys they know they can rely on each and every night. While other teams may have certain question marks in their roster, there is no questioning the skill or heart of any player who takes the floor for them. Each player has confidence in himself and in his teammates to make the right play. The Thunder are truly a team in a league full of players.

It’s a familiar refrain from opponents whenever they’re asked about the new-look Boston Celtics. Everyone seems to say the same thing: “They’re different.”

Essentially, what they mean, but are too respectful and weary of Boston to say it just yet, is that the Celtics minus Kendrick Perkins are a weaker team. It’s a point Chris Bosh, of all people, made after Miami got over the hump yesterday and finally beat Boston this season.

The win pushed the Heat a game ahead of the C’s for the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference — giving them confidence should they meet in the Playoffs, and more importantly, home court advantage.

From the Herald:

After whacking the Celtics , 100-77, yesterday afternoon, the Heat hit them again. Speaking of the difference in the Celts since their big trade, Chris Bosh said things were essentially the same in what they try to do. Then he added, “It’s just a difference in players. Kendrick (Perkins) brought a certain element to that team, and it’s not there anymore.” Bosh then said people should remember last season and not overlook the Celts, but he’d already made his point. So did the Heat yesterday.

Three days before the end of the regular season, the 1 in Miami’s 1-3 mark against the Celts was looking big to the locals. “This is our first time beating them as a team,” said Dwyane Wade after another rocky shooting day against the C’s (4-for-12 while his team was hitting 50.7 percent). “We got over that hump today. You need to see that you can perform against a team.”

In the grand scheme of things, it’s just one game, but a meaningful one with the postseason looming.

In the Playoffs, should Boston’s foes continue to feel the same way Bosh does now, GM Danny Ainge might want to think about going into hiding for a while.

Generally speaking, the Thunder have spent the past few years with a reputation as a pretty reserved bunch. Yeah, there was the time Kevin Durant referred to Chris Bosh as a “fake tough guy,” but for the most part, these guys have played hard on the court and kept their mouths shut off it.

Enter Kendrick Perkins. In a recent interview with ESPN The Magazine, the newly acquired OKC center—who has spent plenty of time battling with the Lakers on and off the hardwood as a member of the Celtics—proved that he’s maintained some of those old beefs by speaking negatively about a few of the Los Angeles Lakers players, as well as their coach, Phil Jackson.

Naturally, Lakers center Pau Gasol is none too happy about it, and he put out a simple message to Perkins and friends: Pipe down. ESPN Los Angeles is on it:

Not only did Perkins bring veteran leadership and championship experience from his eight seasons with the Boston Celtics, he also brought a distinct disdain for the Lakers.

In an interview with ESPN The Magazine after the trade, Perkins said the Lakers were “yesterday’s news” and added, “I don’t like Pau Gasol or Phil Jackson. Phil is arrogant. Pau is soft. Kobe [Bryant] tries to bring out his toughness, but he’s still soft.”

Pau Gasol says “certain players talk too much from my perspective.”

After an extended practice Saturday, Gasol smiled and shook his head when he was relayed Perkins’ remarks.

“Certain players talk too much from my perspective,” he said. “They should worry about their own stuff.”

Gasol said the Lakers, currently mired in a four-game losing streak, didn’t need any extra incentive to win Sunday against the Thunder but Perkins’ comments certainly didn’t hurt.

“You can’t control what other players do,” Gasol said. “It’s a tough opponent; we know that, they’ve gotten better. We want to beat them and if we can beat them up, even better. You got to have patience in life and the time will come to prove yourself and show what you got and what they got.”

Involvement in any sort of media back-and-forth is a (slightly) new look for the Oklahoma City, but who knows; maybe it’ll spark an intensity that’ll fire them up and help ’em compete with the occasionally intimidating reigning champs.

Oh, and at 9:30 p.m. EST tonight, the Lakers and Thunder will go at it on NBA TV. Just a heads up. Could be interesting.

Despite the gnashing of teeth from the folks who pray at the altar of advanced statistics — the ones trying to convince the world that Dwight Howard is the NBA’s most valuable commodity — the Chicago Bulls’ decisive victory over the Boston Celtics last night, in front of a national TV audience, cemented Derrick Rose as the 2010-’11 MVP.

Rose was his usual spectacular self, scoring 30 points and dishing out 8 assists (while his defense helped turn Rajon Rondo into a non-factor for much of the night.)

Derrick then once again displayed something that can’t be measured through numbers, which coupled with the Bulls’ stifling defense, has turned Chicago into a title contender — a galvanizing, unwaivering belief that the Bulls can beat anyone come Playoff time.

Yes, that includes Boston, a possible Eastern Conference Finals opponent. Yahoo! has the quotes:

Within the Bulls’ locker room, they will privately tell you: The belief changed when the Celtics traded Kendrick Perkins to Oklahoma City for Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic. Teammates remembered Rose’s vibe transforming the room, resonating with everyone. They have such great respect for the Celtics and learned so much from losing to them in the playoffs two years ago. The Bulls suspected they had completely closed the gap on Boston, but word of the Perkins trade ran through the room like a live wire on Feb. 24. The Bulls beat Miami that night and they’ve run off 20 of 23 games since the Celtics made the move.

With Perkins gone, everything changed for the Celtics and they knew it: the toughness, the tenacity, the presence in the post. “He was tough,” Rose said. “We could defend on someone that was big. He was really tough to go around. … They’re different.” Different doesn’t mean better. It means diminished. The Bulls beat the Celtics 44-22 in the paint, beat them badly on the boards, too. They assailed the Celtics the way the Celtics used to assail everyone else. “We know we can beat them,” Rose flatly said.

The postseason is of course an entirely different animal from these regular season battles, and we all know not to count out the Celtics, but it’s become increasingly clear: in the East, all roads to the NBA Finals go through the Windy City.

Techs — the result of calculated bullying — are all part of Perk’s tactics when it comes to pyschological warfare with opposing players and refs. From the Oklahoman: In just 12 games as a member of the Thunder, Kendrick Perkins has been hit with five technical fouls. That ties him with Serge Ibaka for second on the Thunder if you count only the Ts he’s received in Oklahoma City. Russell Westbrook leads the way with eight. But throw in the four techs Perk picked up in Boston and his tally is a team-leading nine in just 24 games this season … But the recently-acquired 6-foot-10 center is not just a hot head who can’t control his temper. Perk insists there’s a method to his madness. ‘It’s times that you can get a good tech,’ Perkins explained. ‘You set the tone every now and then.’ … He’s playing the role of the schoolyard bully, testing and taunting his competition to see how far they’ll allow him to go. As Perkins said, if he pushes and is not pushed back he knows he has the upper hand. If he barks and his man backs down, he know he’s won the game within the game. When it comes to the refs, however, Perkins is more careful. ‘I try to pick and choose,’ Perkins said. ‘Sometimes it may look like I’m attacking the ref or swearing or cursing at a ref but I’m not. Sometimes I’m just telling him to get his head in the game or something to that nature. As I got older, I developed good relationships with the guys so they know how I am and they have a higher tolerance for me. And I know how to approach them. I just pick and choose. Some days I try to get a tech. Other days, I just mess with them every now and then.'”